Russia beats Forsberg, Sweden 4-1 in Karjala Cup

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HELSINKI (AP) -- Forward Sergei Zinoviev scored twice to help a speedy Russia outclass Sweden 4-1 Saturday in the second round of the four-nation Karjala Cup, ruining Peter Forsberg's 100th game for the national team.

Forsberg is playing in his first international tournament since setting up the winning goal in the 2006 Olympic final against Finland, and created a number of chances with his clever passing. But Russia set the pace from the start, with Zinoviev making it 1-0 after five minutes.

Martin Thornberg equalized three minutes later but Russia -- which consisted solely of players from its domestic KHL league -- went ahead for good through Danis Zaripov at 11:37.

Zinoviev added the third 1:44 into the last period before Sergei Mozyakin scored with a perfect one-timer from Maxim Sushinsky's pass on a shorthanded breakaway.

Georgy Gelashvili made 23 saves in his international debut for Russia. Sweden's Mikael Tellqvist had 33.

Forsberg, a former NHL MVP and two-time Stanley Cup winner, has had the last two seasons ruined by a persistent foot injury. He played three games for hometown club Modo in the Swedish league this season, and looked sluggish in a 4-3 victory over the Czech Republic on Thursday.

"I have to accept that I cannot just jump into an international game and try to dominate," Forsberg said. "It's not that easy, especially when you're 36."

Forsberg is using the tournament to test whether his ailing foot is good enough for a return to the NHL -- and he still hasn't ruled out defending his Olympic gold in Vancouver in February.

"Of course I want to be in the Olympics. It is a dream to be playing such a tournament in Canada," he said.

In Saturday's other game, Finland beat the Czech Republic 2-1 with Swiss-based forward Tony Salmelainen scoring the winner at 4:38 in the third period. Jaroslav Bednar had given the Czechs the lead in the first minute with his third goal in the tournament, before defender Mikko Maenpaa equalized.

After two rounds, Russia tops the standings on five points. Finland has four, Sweden three and the Czech Republic zero points. Russia plays the Czech Republic and Finland takes on Sweden on Sunday.

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